World Athletics Championships Osaka 2007

Not sure if anyone is following these, but today, at around 12 PM BST, Britain recorded a 1-2 in the women's 400m in a sensational race! I watched it live in the golf club with a few members that were in. Was absolutely fantastic. Takes our tally to the target of 3 medals after day 5.

Kelly Sotherton earlier finished 3rd in the Heptathlon with Jessica Ennis 4th and meanwhile, Jo Pavey also finished 4th in the 10,000m. The BOA have set a target of 3 medals (achieved) and 14 top 8's which i think we currently have 8 or 9 of. The 4X400 for women looks pretty good with the one-two in the individual and Danvers-Smith in the Hurdles all expected to be in the team!

I've been following it avidly! (as always) Shame about Goldie Sayers and Chris Tomlinson - with their form this year, they should have easily qualified for their finals but they didn't....

Fantastic performances by many others though - Laura Turner in the 100m was a bit of a revelation and Jessica Ennis is surely tipped for future greatness. Shame Kelly Sotherton had to put a shadow over her achievement by having a go atr Blonska, and bringing the rest of the heptathletes into it... Obviously the 400m was fantastic - the girls are really putting the men to shame. Hopefully some medals will be forthcoming in the relays, if we can get the baton round...

Should be a reasonable chance in the relays.Disagree with the comment about Sotherton though. Fully agree with everything she said. Once you've been proved a cheat, that should be it for life IMO.And I can't get excited about the woman who won the 400m either for that reason. OK fair enough she didn't actually test positive for anything, but you don't just forget to turn up for 3 different drugs tests. 1 perhaps might slip your mind if you haven't known about it for long. But not 3.

For a start, she didn't miss three in a row, and she has been judged innocent of everything except carelessness. Secondly, these are necessarily drugs tests that you turn up to - you have to provide a range of different bodies with your whereabouts on a particular day (and not one specific day, this is for your whole week's schedule as far as I'm aware) and they turn up at random and test you. On the day that she missed the third test, she had to change training venues last minute because an event as being held where she normally trains. Yes, she was stupid to forget to inform the authorities, but I personally don't think it was deliberate. Further to this, she's been tested regularly throughout the last year (you have to stay on the drug testing register in order to be cleared to compete) and she is - and from the evidence I think she always has been - clean.

The reason that I take issue with Sotherton is the fact that firstly she is seen generally as quite a whingy athlete. Sometimes she has a point, sometimes she doesn't. Yes Blonska was guilty, and yes she should still be banned, but what Kelly did was to implicate all her fellow athletes in condemning Blonska and using them as back up without anyone else actually giving their opinion. I don't disagree with her opinions, I disagree with the way that she did it.

Fair enough I didn't know the full story, only that she was banned for a while (and for life from the olympics) for missing 3 drugs tests. I didn't actually know any details, only the 1 line my Mum gave me.

Edit: Decided against carrying that on. Apologies I didn't know the full story, but I still don't feel something so simple is something both an athlete and every single person in their party (coach, parents, spouce/partner etc) would just 'forget.'Anyway fair enough I didn't know the actual details in this case, and fair enough she has not tested positive for anything.

But if another athlete doesn't want to condemn Blonska, all they have to do is simple say "I disagree with Sotherton, Blonska is fine to compete." I think she was quite within her right to assume the other clean athletes did not take kindly to being beaten by a cheat.

If theres 1 thing I really do despise in this world, it's a cheat, which is probably quite obvious. I don't believe in 2nd chances for drugs cheats. Once you test positive, that should be it.

Problem is with athletes that they lead much more individual lives than other sportspeople. Their coach won't just be coaching them, but a range of athletes, and its not the job of her parents to know her training schedule and make sure everyone is informed. I completely agree that she made some stupid mistakes, but I don't think she's a drugs cheat. She's run up debts of around £25000 trying to clear her name, which the win at the Worlds should just about write off.

Thing is with Kelly, the others shouldn't have to speak out to prevent themselves being implicated in her statements. As a professional athlete, she shouldn't be making such sweeping statements, especially as it puts a tarnish on her own success - the press weren't discussing her achievement the day after she got bronze, they were discussing what she said about Blonska. Yes, it';s good that the issue of cheating is out there, but I think there are more constructive ways to do it....

Shame he never performs in the individual. Although he should have held on for silver from that position, Powell started miles behind so not sure it was that great an anchor leg.But bronze is better than no medal.

Can't be 9.85 because I remember Maurice Green had 9.79 years before them. Must be 9.78.

*searches*

Not very easy to find actually. Wikipedia says Powell and Gatlin share 9.77 (Gatlin has since been banned for drug use and his time may be invalidated). But that was last updated in August 2006. Somewhere else also says Gatlin has done 9.76, but I think that's gone with his ban. Looks like it's Powell with 9.77.